The man accused of stabbing Sir Salman Rushdie on stage last week has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges.

Hadi Matar, 24, was held without bail during a court hearing in New York state on Thursday.

Sir Salman was stabbed around 12 times, including in the face and neck, last Friday as he was about to deliver a lecture near Lake Erie.

The British-Indian author suffered severe and “life-changing” injuries in the attack in New York state, his family said.

However, the 75-year-old is on the way to recovery, according to a medical update given by his agent days ago.

Matar is accused of trying to murder Sir Salman on Friday moments before the author was about to deliver a lecture on stage at the Chautauqua Institution educational retreat.

Writers and politicians around the world decried the stabbing as an attack on freedom of expression.

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Sir Salman’s book The Satanic Verses was banned in 1988 in a number of countries with large Muslim populations, including Iran, after it was considered by some to contain blasphemous passages.

In 1989, Iran’s then leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the author’s death.

Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County district court earlier on Thursday on an indictment returned by a grand jury that charged him with one count of second-degree attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault.

He wore a grey-striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were shackled.

His next court appearance was scheduled for 22 September.

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